My local pub has just switched the sound system over to a Jamaican/Bob Marley/reggae mix, and I must admit that the music lifts my spirits somewhat and has me boppin' at the keyboard. It may be that religion thang -- Rastafarianism after all being associated with happy herbs like ganja. I'm getting a contact high from the music.
After all, many of these musicians I'm listening to are so toasted that the slow, classic Thunk-thunk-Thunk-thunk rhythm of reggae is not really a stylistic choice. They're so stoned that they really can't play any faster than that. They've got a real happy cannabis buzz going for them, even when they're singing about Babylon. Since I've never really been to Jamaica (or smoked a Marley-size spliff, for that matter), my main associations with reggae come from my Sitges days. Living only a block from the beach, working at home and thus not required to keep any particular hours, I could take off any time during the day and wander down to the closest beach chiringito, order a coffee or a beer, and then just kick back and listen to the seemingly constant reggae that they seemed to prefer. It was good kick-back music, and the Thunk-thunk-Thunk-thunk rhythm wasn't bad as a soundtrack to the movie of topless Spanish maidens walking by, either. Often I'd take my dogs Paris and Pippin with me. I secretly suspected both of them as being closet lechers, because they never failed to raise their heads and watch the same babes I was watching. All to a reggae beat. Oh. Was I rambling? My bad. I'd better get back to dumping on TM, the TMO, Maharishi, and Sattva Itself, or my CIA and Buddhist Overlords might dock my pay. :-)
